BOXSCORE

Wheaton, Ill. – Washington University (Mo.) defeated Wheaton College 55-52 on Friday in a Sectional Semifinal of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. Wheaton ends its tremendous season with a 26-4 record. Wash U (26-2) will face St. Thomas (Minn) at 7 PM on Saturday night in the Sectional Final, for the right to advance to NCAA Division III Final Four next weekend in Salem, Virginia. St. Thomas defeated Puget Sound 86-69 in the night's other semifinal.

Wheaton led 4-2 early in the game, however, the Bears out-scored Wheaton 13-4 to take a 15-8 lead with 11:34 remaining in the first half. Wash U led for the remainder of the first half as the Bears held a 31-26 lead at halftime.

The Bears led 49-42 with 10:24 left in the game when Wheaton scored six un-answered points to cut Wash U's lead to 49-48 with 7:24 remaining in regulation. Bear guard Aaron Thompson scored a basket to give his team a 51-48 lead with 5:06 left in the game and Thunder All-American Kent Raymond scored a basket to trim the Wash U lead to 51-50 with 4:37 left. Wheaton center Andy Wiele collected a rebound off of his own miss and scored off of a put-back to give Wheaton its first lead since early the first half, as the hosts held a 52-51 lead with 3:08 left in the game.

On Washington's next trip down the court the Bears regained the lead as Sean Wallis made two free throws to give his team a 53-52 lead with 2:46 left in regulation. Bear forward Tyler Nading scored to increase his team's lead to 55-52 with 2:08 remaining in the game. In a game that featured tremendous defense throughout, it was fitting that both teams held each other scoreless for the final two minutes. A Wheaton three-point-attempt with three-seconds remaining fell short, as the defending National Champions earned the win.

Raymond led all scorers with 22 points in his final collegiate game. Wheaton's second all-time leading scorer ends his tremendous career with 2,308 career points. His career scoring total is the fourth-highest effort in CCIW history. He also leaves Wheaton as the school's all-time three-point field goal leader, the all-time free throw leader and is in the Wheaton record books in more that 30 career, single-season and single-game records.

Raymond noted after the game, “It was tough walking off that court with all those fans there. Our mantra as a team all year has been 'together'. We say it when we go out to play. It's been a fun year. We've had some incredible accomplishments: winning the CCIW championship and tournament; making the Sweet 16. I've never played with a better group of guys than I did this season. I will truly, truly miss that camaraderie.”

Guard Ben Panner scored 20 points, with four three-point field goals. Panner and Raymond combined to score 42 of Wheaton's 52 points in the game and 24 of the team's 26 second-half points.

Wheaton senior Andy Wiele grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, with six points. Wiele ends his career with 811 career rebounds, the sixth-highest total in Wheaton College history. He also tallied 1,225 career points, the 29th-highest total in school history.

Wheaton head coach Bill Harris said, “I thought our defense was tremendous. We held the defending National Champion to 55 points. The thing is, Naismith years ago put a peach basket up there. Unfortunately, the peach basket was closed for us tonight. There was just a cover on the basket (for us).” He added, “Wash U played great defense though. Don't take anything away from them. It was a great defensive battle. I thought both teams played really hard. Those were two great teams.”

Wallis led Washington with 18 points, six assists and four steals. Thompson scored 14 points, with five rebounds. Nading added seven points for the Bears.

Washington coach Mark Edwards noted after the game, “I thought both teams played great defense. I thought that when (Wheaton) got open shots, they had to work so hard to get them that they rushed it a little bit. Even thought they got the open shot, it wasn't necessarily the shot that they wanted to take.” He added, “I know there was a lot of anticipation before the game and I thought it was a great Division III basketball game. I imagine most people expected more offense from both teams, but what they saw was great defensive will power. You know, that's basketball too. When you get to championship play, sometimes that's what you have to have to win.”

Wheaton shot 42% (21-50) from the field, with 26.3% (5-19) from three-point range and 55.6% (5-9) at the free throw line. The Bears posted a 50% (23-46) field goal percentage, with 35.3% (6-17) from behind the three-point arc and 50% (3-6) at the throw line. Wheaton held a 28-26 rebounding advantage, with an 8-4 edge on the offensive glass.